About Us

A little story from the beginning

At the vegan chef, we create delectable gourmet and artisanal vegan food that is good for you and great for the planet.

 You can indulge in our mouth -watering menu at one of our TVC food outlets or restaurant partners. You can also purchase our frozen convenience range in store, online or at selected retail partners nationwide to prepare in the comfort of your home.

With our customer’s health and the environment at the heart of what we do we are pushing boundaries and innovating to ensure we continuously deliver exceptional plant based food in the most sustainable way for the planet. 

What sets us apart is that we are both a plant based gourmet food chain as well as a food manufacturer. 

 

We are one of the first vertically integrated plant based food businesses on the planet and we are proudly South African. 

We take responsibility for each element of the food journey from sourcing the raw ingredients to the dining experience. This allows us to deliver superior quality plant based experiences that are delicious, accessible to everyone and created in a sustainable way. Vertical integration allows us to control the quality and ingredients of all our products across the value chain and thus ensure that we deliver the best experience and taste consistency to our customers.  

We are continuously innovating and pushing culinary boundaries to improve and perfect your vegan dining experiences in a cruelty free and environmentally sustainable way.

How we started?

The Vegan Chef started as a tiny food cart in Sandton, Johannesburg  next to “Burger King”.  Our mission was to provide delectable Gourmet Comfort Food which was Cruelty Free. We wanted our customers to have  the comfort food  taste and experience that they know and love but in a plant based format. Southern Fried Chickn, Sticky Ribs and Crispy Battered Vish & Slaw where just some of our menu items that kept our customers standing in lines outside our tiny food cart. The demand and support was overwhelming  and we soon outgrew our the food cart within a few months. We were then forced to move to a larger premise in Midrand which resulted in us opening the first Vegan Dark Kitchen in South Africa. (TVCMidrand -Dark Kitchen).

Food Manufacturing and Vertical Integration…

Besides creating and delivering an exceptional food experience at our stores, The Vegan Chef is also a vegan food manufacturer. At the TVC plant based factory we produce the vast majority of our menu items as well as an array of meat-free products and a frozen convenience range . Being a plant based food manufacturer and a gourmet food chain gives us the privilege of being one of the first vertically integrated food business globally….and we are proudly South African.

Vertical integration allows us to control the quality and freshness of our plant based ingredients for all our products across the value chain from the start so we can ensure we deliver the best experience and taste consistency to our  customers in a sustainable way that is  good for customers but also good for the environment.

Where are we now?

The Vegan Chef has food outlets situated in Gauteng and Durban. We have also partnered with other restaurants and food chains to bring our comfort food experiences to the rest of the country. 

Our Frozen meat-free products and frozen convenience range can also be purchased online and at selected retail partners ( See online and Retail stocki

The vish cakes absolutely divine❤️The Vegan Chef gets a 10 star rating from me⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Theresa Viljoen
The food is absolutely delicious! Especially the southern fried chick'n. Great service as well.
Sheena Valerie Scott
Received our frozen vegan ready meals and I must say even frozen, the food smells amazing!! Well done TVC!!
Cecil Vizen

We have

The vegan chef aims to promote plant based consumption in order to remove animal cruelty from the food industry , improve customer well being as a result of following a vegan lifestyle and improve environmental & ethical standards in the food manufacturing industry.  We believe that this mission will contribute to a better society for all beings in South Africa and we take this mission extremely seriously.

As far as possible , we source all our raw material and ingredients  from  local suppliers to ensure that  we help foster  sustainable business models for previously disadvantaged businesses. Our employment policy is also rooted in creating employment on an equitable basis with the majority of our employees coming from disadvantaged backgrounds. Our in-house training and chef schools provides the  platform to upskill  our staff to ensure they have the correct expertise, know-how  and business acumen to ensure they are marketable across the hospitality industry and even in a position to eventually start their own businesses once they are ready.